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Rural church needs new roof

KANSAS – The extremely small, but very, active congregation at Pleasant Hill Christian Church is working diligently to raise funds for a new roof and small improvement projects to the country church located in rural Kansas.

Members of the congregation are pairing up with the Paris McDonald’s to host a McEvent from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, March 12. A portion from all food sales during the three-hour fundraiser are being donated to the church as part of the Raise The Roof campaign.

“We are trying different ways to help our church,” said April Brooks, who is spearheading the McEvent with help from her fellow worshippers. She said an average of 8 to 10 people attend the weekly Pleasant Hill church service.

The volunteers will work during the three-hour event as hosts inside the eatery and assist with wiping down tables and other small tasks inside the lobby. A percentage of all food sales both inside and the drive through will be donated to the roof campaign.

“I invited everyone to join us and order food from McDonalds on Monday. Every order will help our church,” Brooks said adding, “Come enjoy a night off from cooking and help Pleasant Hill.”

The church suffered losses in three separate crime incidents. The structure was broken into by petty thieves who stole the old sound system, vacuum sweeper, fall decorations and other church belongings.

Brooks said the congregation was hurt and negatively affected by the burglaries.

“We are still trying to recover from the loss. It was a very sad time for us and very gloomy,” she said.

Since then, the congregation decided to overcome the losses and raise funds to replace the old roof, which was in great need of repair, purchase and install new doors and make small improvements to the building.

“We are taking a gigantic step to make some small improvements because we are such a small congregation,” Brooks said adding, “The old saying when one door closes climb through the window comes to mind.”

According to church member Cheryl Landrum Clark, the church roof is beyond repair and patching trouble area was no longer working.

The congregation held a Nov. 11 bake sale at the Paris Rural King. She said the sale was a huge success and generated $2,000 for the project. That’s when members began looking into other ideas to reach the $25,000 goal.

“During the bake sale, people would share their stories about our church and reminisce about their past friends and family attending the church,” said Brooks. “We realized our little church has touched many people's lives… The stories were heartwarming.”

That has been the catalyst to prompt the Pleasant Hill Church goers to continue working hard to improve the place of worship.

“Since we have started this journey, God has been by our side showing us the way...We aren’t a fancy church just a simple place of worship where the congregation is more like family. And we want to keep it that way for years to come,” said Brooks.

Donations can be made on the church’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PleasantHillCC/ or checks payable to Pleasant Hill Christian Church may be sent to 201 S. Main, Paris, in care of Cheryl Clark or 1488 E. 250th Road, Kansas, 61933 in care of Sid Justice.